Raising Butterflies Update

Several more days have passed in the lives of our Painted Lady Butterfly larvae and there’s been lots of excitement in those few days!

Actually, just in the last day or two.

So those tiny little larvae we received a little over a week ago were growing steadily, eating and sleeping eating and sleeping.

Much like a newborn baby.

Here they are on Day 5

Day 6

and Day 7

You can see that one of them is about ready to pupate (transform into its chrysalis). The web and the frass (that’s the excrement or what we were calling “poop” until we learned the correct word) are really littering up the jar.

It’ll soon get worse.

By the evening of Day 7, that one had attached himself to the top of the lid, and three others looked as though they were getting ready to pupate.

The morning of Day 8

By late morning, one had already transformed. We missed the very beginning of the transformation, but got to see most of it.

By late afternoon, the others had completed the process as well, and the two others were getting ready to pupate.

That thing that looks like a caterpillar part nearly in the middle of the jar is the exoskeleton of that caterpillar, including it’s “old” head!

This morning, the other two had found their spots and formed their “J”s.

We need to move them into their butterfly house within two days of them forming their chrysalises. I imagine that the last two will do so by this afternoon, and I’ll transfer them tomorrow.

I’ll take photos of that, and then stop until they begin to emerge from their chrysalises in about a week or so.

Hope you’re enjoying watching them grow along with us!

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